Consultant hired to help plan new Lafourche jail

Published: Monday, June 17, 2013 at 10:36 a.m.

Last Modified: Monday, June 17, 2013 at 10:36 a.m.

A new Lafourche Parish jail, a facility that law enforcement officials and others say is long overdue, is a step closer to reality with the hiring of a consultant who will be charged with planning the new building.

But some critics question whether the man hired to the job should be in that position.

Michael LeBlanc of MWL Architects in Lafayette is the new consultant. He will be paid $10,000.

LeBlanc has experience in the design, construction and operation of jails in Texas and Louisiana.

He said his objectives for Lafourche are to:

n Secure a site.

n Determine capacity.

nGenerate community support.

LeBlanc will start work this month, but there’s no specific timeline yet on when he will report his findings. Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph said it should be before year’s end.

The Lafourche Parish Council has talked about building a 600-bed facility, but Leblanc said he’ll help make a final decision on the size jail needed.

LeBlanc said he’ll get input from the sheriff and council members and pull from past experience when determining the specifics.

LeBlanc was hired as consultant via a 6-3 vote at last week’s meeting. Here is how the council voted:

There’s been some debate surrounding LeBlanc’s involvement because he has said he wants to serve as the project’s architect and no other consultants were considered.

Arnold said the council should have sought bids for the job.

LeBlanc was hired after the council secured a state Ethics Board opinion that says he can serve now as consultant and later as architect.

Though the Ethics Board gave its OK, some council members remain skeptical.

“It’s kind of like having the fox in the henhouse,” Gouaux said.

The state American Civil Liberties Union is among the consultant and project’s critics. Outreach and Education Director Julie Thibodaux said LeBlanc shouldn’t be allowed to determine the project’s size and then build it.

“The council did not request bids for consulting work,” she said in an interview. “How do they know they are getting the best deal for this work? How do they know it’s the best use of taxpayer money?”

Thibodaux has accused Leblanc and his companies — Premier Management Services, LCS Correctional Services and the LeBlanc Group — of corruption and jail mismanagement.

“We’re very concerned about this man’s past,” Thibodaux said. “There’s a paper trail of shady dealings that we’ve found, and we’ve only searched for two weeks.”

In 1996, for example, the state Legislative Auditor wrote that one of LeBlanc’s companies, Gulf Coast Corrections Inc. and Morehouse Parish Sheriff Frank Carroll provided “false and misleading information” to government bodies to obtain a $3.18 million loan to build a correctional center there.

The auditor’s report says Carroll and LeBlanc couldn’t account for $555,000 worth of cost overruns at the jail.

The ACLU also points out that another of LeBlanc’s companies, Premier Management Enterprises, allegedly obtained a contract for a jail in Bexar County, Texas, after paying for golf junkets and donating $21,000 to an allegedly fake charity owned by the sheriff’s campaign manager.

That sheriff was indicted, but not convicted of three misdemeanor charges stemming from those allegations. He subsequently resigned.

LeBlanc maintains his innocence in both situations.

A proposed amendment that would have named LeBlanc as the architect failed in a 4-5 vote. Several councilmen said they thought it best to delay naming an architect.

Toups, a longtime supporter of LeBlanc, pushed for the amendment.

“We’ve been barking at the jail for two, three years now,” Toups said. “We’ve had three different committees. (LeBlanc) is sure he can build it for us, and I say let’s move on it. I’m tired of waiting.”

Randolph is opposed to hiring an architect until the project’s financing is secured.

“What we need to do here is understand that we have no money to build a jail,” Randolph said. “We can’t go anywhere without the money.”

Officials did set aside $400,000 for the project in this year’s budget, but the new jail would cost an estimated $20 million.

Internal Auditor Tommy Lasseigne presented a plan last summer that would raise about $20 million for the new jail. That plan would take a portion of property tax money currently earmarked for public libraries and the Council on Aging.

Both have cash reserves on hand, of $7 million and $1.8 million respectively, that those entities could dip into if needed, he has said.

The council agreed to take from the library system’s budget, but shied away from taking money from the Council on Aging.

Despite not having the full support of the council, Lasseigne said he still believes his plan offers the best solution.

Randolph has said BP oil spill money could be used.

Toups said he would like to secure the money without raising taxes, but he has mentioned the possibility of a new sales tax.

“We are going to have to sit down and look hard at it,” Toups said.

Parish officials have discussed the need for a new jail for years; one consultant labeled its condition among the worst he’d seen.

<p>A new Lafourche Parish jail, a facility that law enforcement officials and others say is long overdue, is a step closer to reality with the hiring of a consultant who will be charged with planning the new building.</p><p>But some critics question whether the man hired to the job should be in that position.</p><p>Michael LeBlanc of MWL Architects in Lafayette is the new consultant. He will be paid $10,000.</p><p>LeBlanc has experience in the design, construction and operation of jails in Texas and Louisiana.</p><p>He said his objectives for Lafourche are to:</p><p>n Secure a site.</p><p>n Determine capacity.</p><p>nGenerate community support.</p><p>LeBlanc will start work this month, but there's no specific timeline yet on when he will report his findings. Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph said it should be before year's end.</p><p>The Lafourche Parish Council has talked about building a 600-bed facility, but Leblanc said he'll help make a final decision on the size jail needed.</p><p>LeBlanc said he'll get input from the sheriff and council members and pull from past experience when determining the specifics. </p><p>LeBlanc was hired as consultant via a 6-3 vote at last week's meeting. Here is how the council voted: </p><p>For: Jerry Lafont, Aaron Couillet, Lindel Toups, Daniel Lorraine, Mike Delatte, Jerry Jones. </p><p>Against: Phillip Gouaux, John Arnold, Joe Fertitta. </p><p>There's been some debate surrounding LeBlanc's involvement because he has said he wants to serve as the project's architect and no other consultants were considered.</p><p>Arnold said the council should have sought bids for the job.</p><p>LeBlanc was hired after the council secured a state Ethics Board opinion that says he can serve now as consultant and later as architect.</p><p>Though the Ethics Board gave its OK, some council members remain skeptical. </p><p>“It's kind of like having the fox in the henhouse,” Gouaux said. </p><p>The state American Civil Liberties Union is among the consultant and project's critics. Outreach and Education Director Julie Thibodaux said LeBlanc shouldn't be allowed to determine the project's size and then build it.</p><p>“The council did not request bids for consulting work,” she said in an interview. “How do they know they are getting the best deal for this work? How do they know it's the best use of taxpayer money?” </p><p>Thibodaux has accused Leblanc and his companies — Premier Management Services, LCS Correctional Services and the LeBlanc Group — of corruption and jail mismanagement.</p><p>“We're very concerned about this man's past,” Thibodaux said. “There's a paper trail of shady dealings that we've found, and we've only searched for two weeks.”</p><p>In 1996, for example, the state Legislative Auditor wrote that one of LeBlanc's companies, Gulf Coast Corrections Inc. and Morehouse Parish Sheriff Frank Carroll provided “false and misleading information” to government bodies to obtain a $3.18 million loan to build a correctional center there.</p><p>The auditor's report says Carroll and LeBlanc couldn't account for $555,000 worth of cost overruns at the jail.</p><p>The ACLU also points out that another of LeBlanc's companies, Premier Management Enterprises, allegedly obtained a contract for a jail in Bexar County, Texas, after paying for golf junkets and donating $21,000 to an allegedly fake charity owned by the sheriff's campaign manager.</p><p>That sheriff was indicted, but not convicted of three misdemeanor charges stemming from those allegations. He subsequently resigned.</p><p>LeBlanc maintains his innocence in both situations.</p><p>A proposed amendment that would have named LeBlanc as the architect failed in a 4-5 vote. Several councilmen said they thought it best to delay naming an architect. </p><p>Toups, a longtime supporter of LeBlanc, pushed for the amendment. </p><p>“We've been barking at the jail for two, three years now,” Toups said. “We've had three different committees. (LeBlanc) is sure he can build it for us, and I say let's move on it. I'm tired of waiting.”</p><p>Randolph is opposed to hiring an architect until the project's financing is secured.</p><p>“What we need to do here is understand that we have no money to build a jail,” Randolph said. “We can't go anywhere without the money.” </p><p>Officials did set aside $400,000 for the project in this year's budget, but the new jail would cost an estimated $20 million.</p><p>Internal Auditor Tommy Lasseigne presented a plan last summer that would raise about $20 million for the new jail. That plan would take a portion of property tax money currently earmarked for public libraries and the Council on Aging.</p><p>Both have cash reserves on hand, of $7 million and $1.8 million respectively, that those entities could dip into if needed, he has said.</p><p>The council agreed to take from the library system's budget, but shied away from taking money from the Council on Aging.</p><p>Despite not having the full support of the council, Lasseigne said he still believes his plan offers the best solution.</p><p>Randolph has said BP oil spill money could be used.</p><p>Toups said he would like to secure the money without raising taxes, but he has mentioned the possibility of a new sales tax.</p><p>“We are going to have to sit down and look hard at it,” Toups said.</p><p>Parish officials have discussed the need for a new jail for years; one consultant labeled its condition among the worst he'd seen.</p>